Programs aim to intervene, stop bullying

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- A couple of weeks ago, the freshman English students at Johnson High School got a harsh lesson as a coffin was carried into their classroom.

This, the students were told, is the outcome of bullying.

It's a message that Principal Louis Berry hopes sticks in their minds.

"That was a wake-up call for some of them," Berry said.

The national news is filled with stories of teens spilling blood - their own and that of others - due to bullying, harassment and conflicts at school.

On Sept. 22, it was 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide after his romantic encounter with another man was broadcast online.

On Feb. 5, it was 14-year-old Todd Brown, a Discovery Middle School student shot in the back of the head as he changed classes. The homicide occurred after the alleged shooter, Hammad Memon, tried to get out of a would-be gang that some boys were trying to form at the school, officials have said. Memon, also 14, is now facing a murder charge.

Four years ago today, it was Megan Meier, 13, of Missouri, who hanged herself after being ridiculed on the social networking site MySpace.

Mother pushes program

Her mother, Tina Meier, was in Huntsville last week to speak at a fundraiser for the Koko and Friends Foundation, a new anti-bullying program that is trying to find its niche in the Huntsville city schools.

Berry said the organization is already making a difference at Johnson, where Koko and Friends began its program, "Not in Our Schools," earlier this month. Koko and Friends is trying to rid the schools of all types of bullying, whether it is emotional, physical, racist, homophobic or sexual in nature. Cyberbullying is also being targeted.

Executive director Clara Denise West and her group of volunteers were responsible for that freshman lesson a few weeks ago. Berry said he allowed the nonprofit into his school as a proactive way to cut off bullying before it starts.

The key, Berry said, is to offer students the mentoring they need, mentoring that not all children are getting at home.

"Academics is the driving force behind education, but sometimes the students need a little more," Berry said.

Creating right climate

Johnson doesn't have more bullying problems than any other school in the system, the principal said. Huntsville City Schools officials agree.

"It's more common than we'd like," said Donna Clark, coordinator of guidance services for the district. "We find that the most effective intervention is to create a climate where bullying is not accepted from the get-go."

The first line of defense is a systemwide harassment policy, mandated by state legislation passed in 2009. Judy Rushton, director of pupil services for Huntsville City Schools, said the policy is in place and is expected to be part of the students' code of conduct by the end of December.

There are also additional programs in place at various schools, including "Bully-proofing Your Schools," Rushton said.

"It's an awareness program for the students," Rushton said. "It takes awareness sometimes for students to realize (bullying behavior) is not OK and that they can do something to stop it."

Clark said guidance counselors also work with students facing bullying issues, either one-on-one or in small groups with other bullied children. They also work with the bullies, as well as those children who witness the bullying and don't know how to stop it.

Dennis James, security and communication coordinator for Madison City Schools, said bullying is something schools will always battle.

"We approach it from multiple fronts," James said. "We have to educate students about bullying and equip them with the tools to deal with it."

Like the Huntsville school system, the Madison and Madison County systems are also mandated to have a harassment policy in place. James said Madison city schools administrators have also addressed cyberbullying with middle and high school students and introduced "Make a Difference Day," to allow for more feedback from the system's elementary students.

"We've got to find more and more ways to communicate with students and to allow them to communicate with us," James said. "The more trusted adults in the building (are), the more we can stop things while they're relatively small."

Concern by gay activists

While schools are striving to combat bullying, some anti-bullying activists believe more should be done. James Robinson, executive director of the GLBT Advocacy and Youth Services (GBLTAYS), points out that none of the harassment policies in the three local school systems include sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Alabama Legislature has also failed thus far to include sexual orientation in its hate crimes law.

"That concerns me," Robinson said. "I believe that a large portion of bullying is sexuality-based."

Like Koko and Friends, Robinson's youth advocacy group is relatively new. It began a peer-support group in April.

The group is a safe, anonymous place for teenagers to gather and share their experiences, Robinson said. It meets from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Spirit of the Cross Church.

Robinson said he had his own struggles as a gay teen, and was close to a couple of people who made suicide attempts to escape their own struggles. Fortunately, they were unsuccessful.

"When someone loses hope, that's just the most heartbreaking thing I can imagine," Robinson said.

He said he formed GBLTAYS to provide support to teens who are not otherwise getting the support they need to survive those struggles.

Ezra Logreira, a senior at Grissom High School, said that is a real problem for GLBT teens. Logreira, 17, this year established Grissom's first Gay-Straight Alliance.

"I have been very fortunate in my coming out," said Logreira, whose mother is a member of PFLAG, or Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. "Creating this group, I realized a lot of people don't have the support system I have."

Of the group's approximately 27 consistent members, only five are openly gay, Logreira said. However, many members of the group are straight teens who are there to support their friends.

"It should be that way, in reality," Logreira said. "There should be as many allies as GLBT students."

Robinson agreed, and said he doesn't understand why many straight people cannot put themselves in the teens' shoes.

"They still felt what it was like being a teenager trying to figure out who they were," Robinson said.